2nd Dismemberment Victim Is Identified

August 14, 1999

CHICAGO — Police on Friday identified the woman whose dismembered body was found in a vacant lot and the Chicago River earlier this week as Janet Mena, 24, of Berwyn, describing her as an innocent victim of gang or drug warfare.

Mena, who police believe was killed by the same persons who killed and dismembered Juan Estrada, 21, of Berwyn, had agreed to meet him for coffee for the first time the night they were killed, said Harrison Area Sgt. Mark Hawkins.

"She was absolutely innocent," Hawkins said. "She had no involvement in anything illegal whatsoever. And she had no idea what she was walking into."

After Estrada was shot and stabbed, parts of his body were dumped in a North Side alley, while his legs were recovered from the river, police said.